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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

August Book Club

The book and book club this month was really good. Not only was it a beautiful evening in Portland and we all sat outside but the whole group was there all 11 of us! It's been a little while since that has happened as the summer is tough with everyone taking trips.

Our book this month Replay was a big hit with the group. The book is about a man Jeff Watson who dies of a heart attack at 43 in 1988. He comes to in 1963 in his college dorm room. This begins the "replaying" his life over and over always dying at the same time but coming back slightly later in his life with each "replay". When he returns it's always to the reality of his first life but he maintains the memories of all the lives he's lived. You can imagine the scenarios of the different paths he takes. With his knowledge of the future he is able to make large sums of money at a young age and experience how that affects his life and different relationships. A big piece of the book is spent on his relationships with women and how through all the different replays they play an important roll in his happiness or perceived happiness. Also there is the question of why is this happening to him and what is causing it? I found the book hard to put down which means late night reading for me. I will stay up until 1 to 2 in the morning reading if I am really caught up in a plot, this was a 1 o'clock kind of book. The group liked it and we had a good conversation about different characters, some of the twists, and what we thought the message of the book was. My take was to live a good life, do as much as you can to be happy, and not take things for granted. It sounds so simple but it isn't always that easy. Written by Ken Grimwood the book was published in 1987 but is surprisingly topical with references to apple and Gadhafi to name a few.